On Wednesday May 24, President Emomali Rahmon got acquainted the process of renovation of the Tajik aluminum plant based in the city of Tursunzoda. 

The Tajik president’s official website says the head of state got acquainted with the project of updating the 5th and 6th series of the Open Joint-Stock Company (OJSC) Tajik Aluminum Company (TALCO).

The renovation of the 5th and 6th production lines of TALCO was reportedly carried out in three stages, taking into account the modern requirements, and its purpose is to increase the stability of the metallurgical industry.

The duration of the first stage of the project is 14 months, and the production capacity at this stage is 80,000 tons of products per year.

The second stage of renovation and modernization includes the years 2025-2026, during which the remaining part of the 6th line of electrolysis production will be modernized, and the produced metal will be 70, tons per year.

In the third stage of project implementation, which is scheduled for 14 months, the 5th line of electrolysis production will be completely updated and new aluminum production technologies will be installed. The production capacity at this stage according to the project is 150,000 tons of products per year.

Renovation and modernization of the 5th and 6th lines of TALCO takes place on the basis of the technical-economic feasibility studies conducted by Chinese GAMI Company in cooperation with China Machinery Engineering Corporation with the use of the latest technologies of the automation system of technological process management and automatic supply of alumina.

The Tajik president’s official website notes that the introduction of the world's leading technology in the production process with the complete modernization of TALCO’s 5th and 6th production lines will increase the production capacity to 300,000 tons per year by 2027.

According to experts, the installation of new production technology makes it possible to reduce the cost of aluminum by saving electricity, automating the production process, complying with technological standards of production and increasing the quality of the final product.

Thus, 1,500 jobs will be created after the complete renovation and resumption of operation of these production lines. 

The Tajik Aluminum Company (TALCO) is one of the ten largest aluminum smelters in the world and the only aluminum producing plant in Central Asia.  TALCO is wholly owned by the Tajik government.  Tajikistan does not mine alumina but imports the raw material through tolling arrangements.

Construction of the Tajik aluminum plant (TadAZ) began in 1972, and the first pouring of aluminum took place on March 31, 1975.  The Tajik aluminum smelter has a rated capacity of 517,000 tons of primary aluminum per year.

On April 3, 2007, TadAZ was officially renamed to TALCO – Tajik Aluminum Company.